Helmut Schmidt Future Festival 2024: "We are more concerned about the climate than ever before "

"Are you still a climate activist or already a social improvement activist?" asked Uwe Heuser (DIE ZEIT) in the central building. Luisa Neubauer smiled: "I don't know if I like this title," explained the 28-year-old. It is not her, but the view of the climate crisis that has changed: "We have moved from a phase of recognition to the implementation phase. We are looking at laws, measures and campaigns: Is it all good enough?" This is why she has also become part of a larger protest, taking to the streets with bus drivers for good jobs or protesting with Henrik Wüst (CDU) for a secure democracy. "We are more involved in the climate than we have ever been," said Luisa Neubauer to the participants of the Helmut Schmidt Festival. The weekly newspaper DIE ZEIT, the Bundeskanzler-Helmut-Schmidt-Stiftung and Leuphana University Lüneburg jointly organised the event for the second time. The festival brought together 75 young future designers on the Leuphana campus. All participants had applied with an essay or video.

Environmental science student Johanna Schoele was one of them and took the opportunity to talk to Luisa Neubauer at the festival: "What should activism look like that recognises that the climate crisis is connected to so many things and is reflected in so many things?" asked the Leuphana student in the Libeskind Auditorium. Luisa Neubauer called for more cohesion in organisations. People there should see themselves as activists: "But there is also a door that opens with changes in behaviour," said Luisa Neubauer, referring to neighbourhood initiatives, for example.

The climate activist answered the many questions about nuclear power ("far too expensive"), Greta Thunberg's development ("Oh, what's radical?"), the best way to get involved ("You don't have to be vegan since you were seven.") or classism in protest: "The poorest people are most affected by the climate crisis. In Germany, we know that the biggest and dirtiest cars are driven by the richest ten per cent. But most of the exhaust fumes are deposited on the roads of the poorest."
 

"Civil society under pressure"

"How do you cope with having to deal with the Pope, Macron and von der Leyen?" asked presenter Uwe Heuser. "Interpersonally now? They're all nice," said Luisa Neubauer, describing the meetings as less than monumental: "In reality, it's all very small. There's no conversation that changes the world at that moment. The world is changed by how we get to the point where the Vatican is climate-radical today or heads of state feel compelled to sit down with climate activists. It becomes significant with what you make of it and what responsibility you draw from it."

Nevertheless, she rejected the idea of going into politics. Luisa Neubauer continues to see her role in activism: "Civil society is under so much pressure right now and urgently needs forces and movements and people who get involved."

Leuphana student Paula Voß is one of them. She is involved in Klimaentscheid Lüneburg: "It was great to talk to Luisa. With its topics, Leuphana is exactly the right place for the Helmut Schmidt Future Festival," she says.

What does Helmut Schmidt have to do with the future? Dr Meik Woyke (Bundeskanzler-Helmut-Schmidt-Stiftung) referred to the festival's namesake in his words to the young people in the central building: "He knew that democracy means argument, but in the end the power of the better, rational argument wins out and you have to find a compromise." Dr Uwe Heuser (DIE ZEIT) summarised the idea behind the festival: "We want to honour young people for their ability to change and improve the world. We need young ideas and we need a festival, a biotope that gives us ideas." Leuphana President Sascha Spoun made the connection to the Leuphana Semester: "The essential thing is the ideas. We start with a major social task, not a small technical one, so that the development beyond the degree programme is one that always spans an arc: What am I doing, what for and why?" In terms of content, Prof Dr Dana-Kristin Mah, Junior Professor for Digital Teaching and Learning, Prof Dr Jelena Bäumler, Professor of Public and International Law with a focus on sustainability, and Prof Dr Natascha Zaun, Professor for Political Science, in particular Public Policy and Law, focused on the three main topics of the Future Festival: AI, democracy and climate change from three perspectives: "Research shows that society is not so divided: Society is not as divided as we might sometimes discuss. On the contrary: there are majorities for climate protection in our democracy," says Prof Dr Natascha Zaun. "Climate protection is a human rights task," said Vice President for the College Prof. Dr. Jelena Bäumler, referring to "inter- and intragenerational justice". Prof Dr Dana-Kristin Mah shed light on the educational science perspective and referred to education for sustainable development: "How can sustainability topics such as climate protection be better integrated into formal educational structures, but also into informal educational processes?"